The Presbyletter
Ionia First Presbyterian Church125 East Main Street, Ionia, MI 48846
May 2021
Worship Is A Shared Experience
What comes to mind when you hear the word Pentecost? Many people think of a mighty wind, tongues of fire, and multiple languages. But Acts 2 begins with another detail that’s just as key: Jesus’ disciples “were all together in one place.” Because they were together physically and spiritually, the early believers didn’t miss the life-changing, world-changing birth of the Church.
The pandemic, while changing our definition of gathering, also highlighted our need for interaction. If Jesus’ first followers hadn’t been assembled on Pentecost, they would’ve missed the outpouring of God’s power and the indescribable joy God had for them. Think about what believers today might miss if we neglect to worship with other friends of Christ. Who would want to miss God’s blessings, promises, and joy?
AT A GLANCE
Sunday Worship
10:00 a.m.
Join us for worship: We are offering worship in-person with precautions
or
join us for online services on Facebook at First Presbyterian Church Ionia
Holy Communion
First Sunday
of the month
Session Meeting
May 18
7:00 p.m.
MISSION NEWS
~Food for Families~
Grocery delivery continues to several of our church families. We were blessed with donations from Jen Furman, Shalyn Ralston, and Duane & Judi Emlinger. Shayln and Duane provided us with some of the venison they got this past fall.
Thank you to all who help with this project whether it is through donations or help with their time.
~IM Kids 3rd Meal~
IM Kids 3rd Meal is committed to ending childhood hunger in Ionia and Montcalm counties. They provide take-home sack lunches daily to food-insecure children in school systems. They also went out to schools to help serve 3rd meals to virtual students during the pandemic. The meals were available for families to pick up or some were delivered.
IM Kids 3rd Meal did a fundraiser In March to purchase a truck. The truck will save money from the use of a rental truck and make more trips increasing the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables in the meals. The program will expand to offer summer meals to children in Ionia communities utilizing the truck for delivery.
First Presbyterian had a group that volunteered to prepare lunches before covid. They saw firsthand how important it was to the schools to have these meals available to distribute to their students.
Greenville Area Community Foundation provided a matching dollar grant of up to $10,000.00 for IM Kids 3rd Meal to purchase a used box truck with a lift gate. First Presbyterian gave $200.00 to help in the purchase of the truck to help continue with this program for food-insecure children.
~SAVE THOSE PLASTIC LIDS~
Yes, we are still collecting plastic bottle caps for the project to recycle and use them to build benches. If you have a sack full that you have been saving, you may drop them off into the shopping cart at the church. Thanks.
SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
March Session Highlights
Rev.Helen Havlik, who has moderated session many times when we did not have a pastor, has retired from North Park Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids. Helen endeared herself to many in our church with her kindness and sage advice. In recognition of our deep appreciation, the clerk (on behalf of the session) delivered to Helen a Willow Tree angel figurine.
The Presbytery annual report cited a 6.4% drop in membership over the 61 congregations.
Presbytery owns Camp Greenwood and leases it to Greenwood Ministries Association. The current lease expires December 31, 2021. At the March 13 meeting, the Presbytery voted not to extend the lease and charged the committee with liquidating the camp by December 2023.
Session voted to allow the fellowship hall to be used for a bridal shower on April 17 for the couple who will be married in the church on May 29.
Session voted to return to in-person worship beginning Palm Sunday.
3 Ami Cox
6 Jeremiah Helsius
7 Margaret Story
9 James Bosley
16 Marsha Kohloff
18 Evelyn Ransom
19 Kathy VanSyckle
21 David Kohloff
21 Rebecca Speer
24 Wade Arnold
24 Marilyn McKay
25 Marsha Brown
25 Robert Sykes, Jr.
28 Laela Agostini
Special Dates
May 6 National Day of Prayer
May 9 Mother’s Day
May 13 Ascension Day
May 23 Pentecost
May 29 Spooner/Naab Sanctuary wedding
May 30 Trinity Sunday
May 31 Memorial Day
Sunday Worship Workers
May 2 Jen Furman and Cindy Rozich
May 9 Margaret Gregory and Norma Kilpatrick
May 16 Judi Emlinger and Cindy Rozich
May 23 Kathy VanSyckle and Carol Campbell
May 30 Jen Furman and Cindy Rozich
Kosbar Scholarship Fund
There are funds available for scholarships to be granted to qualified applicants at any point in their college careers, undergraduate, or graduate programs. Please call the church office in order to get an application. Students, your church wants to assist you in furthering your education.
Call 616-527-2320
Administrative Assistant Hours
Sara Hyland, the administrative assistant, is in the office Monday and Wednesday from 9 AM to 2 PM. At any other time, leave a message and someone will get back to you ASAP.
OTHER NEWS
Quarterly Donation Statements
We normally print quarterly donation statements and put them in the memorial room for a few weeks. People attending worship could pick them up thus saving the church postage. After three weeks, those statements not retrieved by hand were mailed. That did not happen for the January-March quarter.
There were formatting issues with the template for donation statements from our new Church Windows software. Sara Hyland has tailored the template to the extent possible to reflect our past practice.
To save ink and paper, we will not print all the donation statements. If you would like a quarterly donation statement, please call 616 527-2320 or email [email protected]. We can either email you a statement or print and mail a paper copy.
Thanks To Our Other Angels
We have been blessed over the years by people who remember and support our church long after they have moved on to other cities and states. While we always make a point of thanking these folks, it occurs to us that they deserve to be remembered with gratitude more than once or twice a year. So, when you are counting our blessings, remember friends from the past who help make it possible for us to continue to care for our church, send kids to camps, feed families struggling to put food on the table, use special music to enhance our services etc. So, thank you and bless you Bill, Dottie, Marilyn, Loren, Bob, Janie, Susan, Ron, Margaret and Jon (who passed on last year).
From the editor…
I had occasion recently to go back to our home Presbyterian Church in Ohio. As I entered the door a bulletin board caught my attention. Its title was ‘BE THE CHURCH.’ As I read through it, I was reminded of the song written in the 70’s by Avery and Marsh, two Presbyterian ministers who collaborated musically. Some of the words to the song go like this:
“The church is not a building,
The church is not a steeple,
The church is not a resting place,
The church is a people!
I am the church!
You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus, All around the world!
Yes, we’re the church together!”
I discovered the words on the bulletin board were resource material from the UCC Church. I think they are apropos to us Presbyterians as well. Let’s find new ways each day to…
BE THE CHURCH!
Session Members / Ministry Team Chairperson / Committee Member
*Session Members
Marilyn McKay* – Mission
Cindy Rozich – * Worship
Keith Sterner* – Personnel
Warren Thompson* – Building/Grounds
Mary Williams* – Christian Education
Margaret Gregory – Clerk of Session
Kathy VanSyckle* – Worship
First Presbyterian Staff
Rev. Dr. Chris Dorn
Sara Hyland
Steve Slaughter
Pastor Tel. 616-610-5982
Administrative Assistant
Custodian
Newsletter, Calendar and more at 1stpreschurchionia.com
Email: [email protected]
Church Office Hours-Monday through Wednesday
9:00 AM-2:00 PM, Ph# 616-527-2320